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‘We’re not straying away from it,’ staffer says
Two newly released undercover videos show Arizona State University administrators admitting that diversity, equity, and inclusion practices are still embedded in the school despite a ban on the ideology.
One video captured by investigative group Accuracy in Media shows enrollment coach Megan Neumann saying the school is still “actively” incorporating DEI.
“We’re not straying away from it,” she said. “We just have to be cautious.”
In the second video, Allison Reynolds, the academic success advisor in the Psychology Department, said DEI is a “big part of … our goals.”
She said DEI is also a part of the curriculum, the research labs, faculty committees, and a program called Psych4All.
Psych4All is a committee “composed of dedicated Department of Psychology faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate students, enhances inclusivity and excellence by strengthening our capacity to embrace different perspectives that recognize the various identities in our unit,” according to the school’s website.
Meanwhile, the Arizona State Board of Education voted to remove DEI language from state standards, Fox News reported.
The College Fix reached out to Neumann and Reynolds for further clarification on their comments, but did not receive a response.
Reached for comment, an Arizona State University spokesperson told The College Fix the school will not comment on the video directly, “as ASU does not comment on secret video recordings of its employees who are not authorized to speak on behalf of the university.”
However, they said the school “complies fully with federal law and does not discriminate in admissions or scholarship selections.”
The spokesperson added that doing so would not only “violate Arizona Board of Regents and ASU policy, but ASU has since 2010 operated under a state constitutional provision that prohibits preferential treatment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public education.”
ASU President Michael Crow told The State Press that the school is aware of the first two secret recordings and is investigating them.
Crow also said these covert recordings are “a terrible thing to do to someone.”
President of Accuracy in Media Adam Guillette told The Fix the school is “full of administrative bloat” that increases tuition and forces taxpayers to fund ideological activism.
“These employees and departments need to go. In addition, any employee caught circumventing or breaking laws and rules should be prohibited from ever again earning a taxpayer-funded salary on the state level,” Guillette said.
He added that universities found promoting DEI or failing to implement plans to rein in administrative staff should lose federal funding.
The activist group has previously released two other undercover videos of ASU administrators, The College Fix reported.
In one video, Associate Dean of Inclusive Design for Equity and Access and Clinical Associate Professor Chandra Crudup says the school has “shifted” some of its language to “get ahead” of a DEI ban and “not become a target.”
“We started changing language, but we’re still doing the same thing,” she says.
Similarly, Rebecca Loftus, associate director of criminology and criminal justice, was caught on camera saying DEI is “still very much a part of the conversation” even though the language has been removed.
Arizona State University is facing a federal complaint from watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust following the release of these videos.
“There is overwhelming evidence that ASU is continuing its practice of promoting DEI on its campus … The practices are still illegal. And, perhaps, those accreditors should also be investigated,” the complaint states.
Last year, ASU told The Fix it was reviewing executive orders from Donald Trump and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education regarding DEI policies to ensure the university complies with federal law.
The federal guidance warns that schools could lose funding if they engage in race-based discrimination.
